Fear becomes reality.

I really love roller coasters. I have very few inhibitions about super fast, super high rides. I'm not an adrenaline junkie, but I really do like that feeling of flying/falling/etc.

However...

I harbor a deep-seated fear of a ride getting stuck while I'm on it. It's a terrifying thought that flashes across my mind right before that initial plunge/drop/loop/corkscrew of a ride. This may be crazy, but I offer sincere prayers, asking God PLEASE not to let me die that way. I feel like people very well may chuckle at that.

While in Florida, it happened. A ride STOPPED in the middle. SPOILER: I survived, though. Whew.

We were riding "The Forbidden Journey" (the main attraction ride that's housed inside the castle) for the 4th(ish) time, and right in the middle of the Forbidden Forest/acromantula part (Kat, SERIOUSLY? You know how I feel about acromantulas!!), it stops. Halts while we're tilted upward, feet lolling, right in front of a cobwebby hole that made my imagination go crazy. A very cool and professional British voice came on to alert us that we were paused momentarily but please to be careful because we'd be moving shortly.

And we did...about an inch. Same recorded British voice telling us we'd be moving shortly.

And we did...about half an inch. Same recording...

Repeat this about 4 times.

Finally, they turned all the lights on and told us that our ride would be curtailed. Then, the coolest thing happened. We got a "backstage" tour of the mechanics of the ride. The seats that we rode in were attached to the mechanical "tree" contraptions with arms to tilt and rotate the seats around, giving the impression of flying. We even saw little crazy things, like a flip flop that someone lost mid-ride...bummer.

The best part? At the end of the ride, they gave all of us Express Passes to use on the ride later. You know, when it was up and running again. Note: this is one of the rides at the park that does not accept Express Passes. Unless you get stuck on the ride, I guess.

Thankfully, Brad documented things. I was really nervous at first, thinking the ride would jerk to life and we'd lose our camera. We didn't. Whew.

I think we look surprisingly cheery, given that we were hanging in front of a huge hole out of which anything could have emerged!

Backstage tour. The dementors are far less scary when you see them without their figurative make up on.

Express Pass! We got to walk right past all the folks standing in line. Victory.

We were REALLY proud of those passes. You should probably know that one time last summer, the Brassarts stood in line for 1.5 hours for that ride. This time, we just whooshed on through.

Actual backstage tour. We got to walk in a different way through the castle and see some more of it. These pictures are the ones that move and talk like true wizard pictures. See how real they look? Granted, not ALL of them talk, but many of them do.

More pride. We were dripping with it.

(insert professional, British voice here): This concludes our tour of Harry Potter's Wizarding World. Thank you for your participation, and have a magical day.

ALSO, Peggy: Don't let this post deter your interest! It was a fluke. I attract trouble and such. Your experience would probably be awesome and 100% magical.

Back for more.

For anyone who's interested (ahem...Kat...), I have a few more pictures!

The Goblet (of fire). Disregard the scantily clad woman in the background. Also, there are blue flames that come out of the goblet. The camera did not capture that, unfortunately.

I love how this looks so Cyrillic. They had all these banners leading up the walkway to one of the rides.

All of the "warning" signs for each ride were designed to look like the "Educational Decree" signs put up by the Ministry in Order of the Phoenix. So funny.

Zonko's joke shop!

Ad for Puking Pastilles. The thing you can't see is that there's actually something mechanical coming out of that little character's mouth.

...sensation that 's sweeping the nation. Gross. And funny...

Extendable ears. It made me miss Fred...

Hagrid's cabin.

Bludgers and Quaffle. And broom wax.

Our true colors.

Brad's true colors...he's not happy that he was sorted into Ravenclaw.

Appeasing Brad by letting him pose with the Gryffindor flag...

I have one more post from Florida before getting back to real life. It's a good story, though; it'll be a true saga- in picture format. Get excited!

Hogsmeade!

All of the rooftops are covered in snow. Daddy thinks they did that partially to make you think it's not actually quite as hot as it really is...

Sometimes it even has real smoke coming out of it.

We all took turns posing in front of various shop fronts (most of the shops are for show/you can't go it). This is my interpretation of an owl.

Mom's excited about quills and parchment.

Amiee's wanting Hermione's Yule Ball dress.

Daddy's mulling over all of the books in Tomes and Scrolls.

Brad's wishing he was a Seeker. He hasn't quite come to terms with the fact that I'm the Seeker. He can be anything else he wants on the team except Seeker.

Paying for lunch at the Three Broomsticks. It is GOOD food, too. Not your typical amusement park fare. The ribs are particularly excellent.

This was lunch. There was a LOT of it...and this doesn't include the bowl of salad.

Brad decided to finish off the salad. It was too much work to put the last little bit onto his plate, so he just ate straight out of the bowl.

Trifles. Exceptionally yummy.

Lamp post at the bottom of the "Dragon Challenge" ride.

Lamp post near Hagrid's cabin.

Ollivander! They do a little show inside of his wand shop.

Mom with McGonagall's wand...

Dad with Dumbledore's...he wanted the elder wand for some reason...

Me with Hermione's...

Amiee with Luna's (Luna's her favorite)...

and Brad with Sirius'. He took his pose very seriously.

Brad's first experience with Butterbeer.

I caught him doing this a few minutes later. I think he liked it.

Gilderoy Lockhart's "Travels with Trolls"

The "Monster Book of Monsters." It would occasionally snap. Yikes!

There's more to come! We took lots of pictures. Kat, I wanted to make sure you had a good sampling of what's available before our trip in the future. :)